


*Kzzt* Can you read me?

by Novicedge



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Complete, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21633250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novicedge/pseuds/Novicedge
Summary: “No one knew what really happened that fateful night ten years ago. All everyone did know was that every myth and legend in mankind’s recorded memory had come bursting out of the shadows and out in the real world. All that stood between them and humanity’s destruction was a few exceptional people who had arose to save us. And here I am, a glorified secretary to the hottest idiot of all of them.”“Really? Personally I always thought Joker was the one with the good looks.”Fox flinches as Oracle’s screech and a crashing of computer hardware rocks from his earpiece.
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakura Futaba
Comments: 16
Kudos: 157





	1. Chapter 1

_“There was a cackling laughter and then a fiery explosion. That was the start of every eyewitness testimony of what happened that night.”_

The screen cuts to damaged camera footage as a mass of people are strewn about, many wounded from the explosion. Their attackers all crowded around them, Pyro Jacks circling and laughing as they drift closer and closer around the civilians, toying with their prey. Their screams of terror intermingle with the Pyro Jacks, for as fast as the burst onto the scene they all become entombed in ice. The Jacks screams are cut off by the ice and the sound is replaced by a _schwing_ of steel as each demon is cut to pieces along with their icy prison. Their remains fading into a reddish-black smoke. The mysterious hero tries to walk towards one of the civilians when the sirens of emergency vehicles _whir_ through. He then glances at them and then the security camera above him, seemingly weighing his options. He leaps past the camera unto the roof. The video stops on the last frame he was on, a Kitsune mask all that is visible.

_“The illusive Fox is one of the more well-known among the rise in heroes. His mysterious looks coupled with his swift and graceful fighting style has made him an icon among the rising vigilante community and the general populace as a whole. As the government scrambles to find counter-measures, citizens are currently looking at P.T. for-“_

Oracle sighs as she closes the tab in her desktop. Opening a program of her own making, a virus routed through surveillance cameras around the city to bring her information and all were coming up zilch. She closes her eyes and breathes in deeply as she calls forth the demon Necronomicon. It floats over her and materializes tendrils of cables all plugging into assorted openings in her PC. Oracle looks over and sees five cables unable to plug in and retreat back into Necronomicon.

‘Nice, only five out of twenty were bad this time. Amaaaaazing.”

The camera feeds blur and bleed together as the designs on her demon pass over it and leave. They all dull over, not finding anything. Necronomicon unplugs and fades away. Oracle leans back in her chair, bored out of her skull. She turns to her second monitor, in the bottom right corner is a minimized game window. Currently paused over four pixel figures on an grassy overworld, but before she return to it there’s a beep in her headset.

“Oracle reporting in. Status?” She answers.

“Nothing on my end. I noticed you hadn’t briefed me, so I thought you were busy playing your game again.” Fox chided.

“We ex- _cuse_ me for not giving you all the details of the nothing going on!”

“I refuse to believe there’s no demon activity happening throughout the country.”

“You don’t even have the change to get the train back home and you’re expecting me to tell you to run a hundred-something miles to some action.”

“A hundred miles in what direction?” His voice tightens.

“It was an example you dunce. Besides you’re taking on too much work as it is. Let some of the others take over sometimes.

There’s a sigh on the other end. “Fine, I’ll be on patrol for two more hours. Tell me if you see anything.”

“Yeah yeah I get it. Oracle signing out.”

The call drops. She looks back over at the monitor for the time, half past midnight.

“He’s not gonna get any sleep to tonight is he…” A frown passes over her.

Futaba Sakura is a sixteen year-old girl. A shut-in who could barely leave her own room, let alone her own house. With little combat ability she was no match for the monsters that plagued humanity. But one day her self-indulgent, directionless life flipped around and she became Oracle. The information coordinator of those who could fight back. A small part of team that helped defend mankind from the beasts that would prey on us. And she was committed to her task as any one of them. Oracle rolls her neck and sits straight back up. Typing quickly on a different program.

‘Well I don’t need sleep either. I’ll back you up as much as I can.’


	2. Chapter 2

A mistake people often make about demons is thinking they are mindless killers. That they appear merely for the pleasure of hunting humans but that was one side of it. The other side was arguably more nefarious. Rather than consumption, they dealt in cooperation. Some amassing followers to gain power while others would cut deals. Sharing their power with humans to accomplish a goal of theirs. A demon was still a demon however, and their goals were rarely more than anarchy or claiming an area for themselves.

Currently P.T. was following a lead on one of them. All signs showing the demon in charge was electrical in nature. Fox was currently keeping an eye on it on a nearby rooftop until Skull arrived. Fox would then back him up and storm the hideout to take out the demon. However they needed more information on the group, and that’s where Oracle came in.

“Oracle, anything yet?”

“Hmm I got a police report on the deaths of several gang members.” Oracle recoils at some of the details. “Its… looking like the cause was electrocution. This has to be the Raijuu you were looking for. I’m seeing reports of some skirmishes between the deceased and some yakuza. I’m guessing the yakuza made them pact and… killed them.”

Oracle couldn’t help a shiver racing up her spine. It wasn’t enough for the whole world to be flipped upside down but some people had to see a way to profit off it.

“I hate this.”

Fox doesn’t respond, the patter of rain hitting his ice umbrella are all that ring back.

“Can’t people just… get along? I know, I know it’s naïve but you’d think when monsters are crawling around we wouldn’t be fighting over something so pointless.”

“I concur.”

The silence rings over them for a moment until Fox speaks up.

“Oracle how long until Skull arrives?”

“Um I think he still has personal stuff to do. I think he’ll arrive in a hour or so.” 

Oracle can see Fox nodding through the corner of the closest local camera.

“It reminds me of those science fiction movies you were talking about. How humanity joins up to stop an alien menace. Like the one about vampires on the moon?”

There’s a pause on the other end the a chuckle.

“You mean Lunar Fangs? That’s werewolves. You got it mixed up with Venusian Vlads.”

“Didn’t you tell me they joined forces one time?”

“No no no they fought each other! Remember they both wanted the earth queen’s blood as a prize and she played them against each other? Oh wait are you talking about-“

Oracle’s voice starts shifting from earlier. Less serious and more giddy talking over her interests with him. Fox was only passingly curious about the movies but enjoyed lifting Oracle out of her dark musings more.

———

One of the yakuza pulls his gun out when Fox fires a Bufu, knocking it out of his hands and freezing it against the wall. The man looks away from the gun and back to Fox but he’s already gone. He feels a kick against the back of his knee and he collapses. Fox cuffs him by the arms and by the legs. He gets up and scans around looking for anyone still a threat.

“Fox down!” Yells Oracle from his headpiece.

He hits the ground as a wave of Mazio goes over him.

“Skull end this!”

“Don’t you think I’m trying! C’mon Captain Kidd! Assault Dive!”

Kidd rushes forward against Raijuu but it blinks away and Kidd plows into a wall. Raijuu doesn’t have a moment to breathe however as Skull immediately smashes him with a steel pipe. The demon falls down hard. Skull clenches his mask as Captain Kidd reforms behind him, and by this time Fox is there too with Goemon.

“Let’s go! Deathbound!”

“Goemon! Giant Slice!”

P.T.’s personal monsters run roughshod over Raijuu. After a few moments, it cries out and fades to smoke. Goemon and Kidd following suit. Fox’s eyes flutter back and forth, waiting for another demon to spring out while Skull sighs deeply and falls against the nearest couch.

“Oracle, are the police on the way?”

“Hmmmm no. My scanner hasn’t picked up a call for them. I guess the locals are minding their business over all the noise you guys made.”

Satisfied with the answer and Fox sensing nothing, he too sits down on the couch. Skull slouches deeper and props his legs up on a broken table.

“Um how long are you guys planning to just chill there?”

“Hey lay off, there was so many Zio flying around my hair is on end! We can afford to chill for a second.”

“Agreed. I think it struck you so hard your hair might have changed colors.”

“Oh ha ha. Thats real funny Fox, you thinking of quitting your day job to become a comedian?”

“Day job implies he gets paid.” Oracle pipes in.

Skull laughs as Fox for his part doesn’t respond. He’s squinting an eye, peering with the open one through his index fingers and thumbs set in a square. Staring at the TV in front of them, broken earlier in the fight.

“Fascinating… The way the shards have broken apart leaving the center exposing open and exposing the blackness within... What does this say about the people who spend so much time staring at one?”

Skull jumps out of his seat and rushes out of the hideout. “I’m out. See ya!”

As Skull’s voice fades out, there’s cannon fire as Captain Kidd is summoned. The Captain giving his master a ride home. Fox ignores him and turns to take in more of the ruined hideout, several goons still tied up.

“And this mess, a den of sin defiled! Is this a holy mess? Or! Or a violent mess cleaned up?”

“Mm-hm.”

Oracle nods politely and starts fiddling with her computer over on her end.

‘I’ll give him five more minutes before I call it in.’


	3. Chapter 3

That was the extent of Fox and Oracle’s friendship. P.T. shared a lot with each other and were on well enough terms, but they were first and foremost a group with a mission. They didn’t hang out together as civilians and calls between them were almost always related to demon hunting activity. Any demon with a lick of sense saw P.T. as a tool to exterminate the competition at best or arrogant humans on their hit list at worst.

It didn’t stop there as P.T. even had to fear their own kind. As governments scrambled for their own solutions and explanations for what happened, some saw them as valuable test subjects. Their leader Joker even established P.T. because the previous group he was part of was wiped out, either by monsters or by people he wouldn’t say. As such one of P.T.’s rules was to try and keep each other at arm’s reach, going as far as to only know each other by code names. Though they would trust each other and fight together, it was all for the best in case one was captured he argued. That was the case for Fox and Oracle as well. At least until one fateful night.

———

“Quick there’s one aiming behind you!”

Fox barely catches the voice in his ear. Too weakened to dodge, he turns around, takes his katana and encases it in a Bufula, bracing himself for the fireball. The Agilao fails to burn him but still blasts him back enough to crash into a flipped over car.

What had started as an average patrol mission had turned into an assassination. While Fox was jumping from rooftop to rooftop , Oracle had alerted him to a distress call. Joker and Panther were pinned down on the other side of town and needed backup. But as Fox rushed over to help he was jumped by several high rank demons. It seemed a group of them had planned to divide and overwhelm the individual P.T. members, which is how Fox found himself in the fight for his life. Trapped on a street littered with car wreckage, demons lurking behind every corner.

“Oracle-!”

Fox tries to cry out something when he’s interrupted by a scythe nearly hooking around his neck, barely intercepting it with his sword. He turns behind him to see a Macabre. Fox calls for Goemon who bisects him vertically with a Giant Slice. No sooner is Macabre fading there are gunshots as Goemon is riddled with holes. The demon who shot him ducking from out of view. Fox falls to his knees and coughs up blood, the difference between persona and person feels paper-thin as the pain rocks his body.

“Oracle -kugh- I need an update!” “Noir and Queen are still minutes away! Can you hold out?”

Fox turns up and sees an Oni over him, club held high. Goemon materializes between them and forces Oni back. Fox gets one foot on the ground when another Agilao crashes into him. The impact smashing hard into a concrete wall.

“Fox come in! Fox what’s your status?”

Fox lifts himself out of the dented wall he’s in. Then pulls a Bead out of his pocket and crushes it in his hand. He can feel the more serious wounds begin to heal, but he still feels as tired as before. As much as a lifesaver as they are, Beads do nothing to heal the drain in energy fighting takes out of you.

“Fox you’re at your limit. You’ve done all you could. You gotta withdraw!”

“Giant Slice!”

Goemon appears and with all his might delivers the blow to the previously downed Oni, slicing and erasing him. But that last summoning is about all Fox has in him. A Mezuki sees Fox down for the count and skulks towards him for the final blow. However there’s a gunshot and the beast clenches its face with its free hand, wailing in agony. Distracted by the pain it doesn’t catch the screech of rubber on road as Queen plows through the demon. Hitting him at such a speed it was enough to turn Mezuki to dust then and there. An Orthrus leaves its hiding spot to try to attack her but it howls in pain and stops having just barely left its cover.

“Milady Triple Down again!”

Orthrus abandons Queen to fall back into cover to focus on Noir. Queen then pulls Fox to his feet. She then motions her free hand over to her face to call Johanna to heal when Fox stops her.

“I am fine save your strength. I’ll only get in your way.”

“Are you sure?”

No sooner does she say that does he run off again. Queen wants to chase after to help but more demons come out of the woodwork to try and swarm her.

“Johanna Mafreila!”

Fox can barely catch the sound of the fight as he runs further away. Upset at his own powerlessness yet knowing the best choice is to get out of the way. However his energy has left him long ago and now away from the battle Fox’s exhaustion catches up to him. Forcing him to collapse right where he’s standing. His vision glazes over a blur of colors as the world flips before he falls fully unconscious.

———

Oracle is curled up in her seat. Skull had managed to arrive to back up Panther and Joker in time and were now tearing through the demons’ ambush. Meanwhile, Noir and Queen were doing well with their fight. Fox wasn’t able to stop them on his own, but he did all he could to tear a chunk out of their ranks. Though that’s how he ended up as he is now, collapsed on the street and easy pickings for murder or capture. Her feed showing her his defenseless body several blocks away.

Oracle gets out of her chair, her whole body shaking the whole time. It was late out, Sojiro was still at work and Akira was off on a date. What could she say anyway? Ask them to pickup a member of P.T. and hope they didn’t ask any questions? No, Oracle was on her own. She had to do what took hours to days of mental preparation to do. She had to leave the house.

Futaba goes and ruffles through her closet putting on her green jacket then pulling a pink Featherman mask. She stares at a box she’s kept on the top shelf. With trembling fingers she pulls it down and reaches in, taking out a pistol Joker gave her on her first day on P.T. Her mind is scrambling as she’s assaulted by a memory of flames, and the last sight she ever saw of her mother. She retracts back down and starts curling up again. The fear of the outside world and her duty to save her friend making it all feel like the world is coming down around her again.

‘Wait… friend?’

The words reverberate through her head. She steadily stops shaking and gets back up, readying the mask over her face. Feeling ridiculous yet more calm at the same time. She throws open her bedroom door and runs through it then through the front door

’I’m coming Fox.’


	4. Chapter 4

Fox did not wake up well. There were no injuries that any doctor would attest to yet Fox felt like his insides were put through every machine in a laundromat. He can feel body aching through every pore as he starts waking up. He opens his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Suddenly last night's events rush to them, the ambush and his shameful retreat. He tenses as he looks around for where he is. Where he expects to see the grays of a cell block or the whites of a hospital room there is instead a mess of colors. Figures, posters and the like all around. Fox muses over what he's seeing for a moment.

"Did I get kidnapped by an otaku?"

As he soon as he says the words there's a yelp as his kidnapper jolts awake, nearly falling out of her chair.

Catching herself, she shakes the cobwebs out and turns her chair away from a computer to focus on him. Her face easing to a friendly smile.

"Oh geez, you're finally awake. You had me worried for a minute there. I'm glad to see you up."

Fox does nothing but glare back.

"I don't know what you want but you won't get it. But if you want to live to see tomorrow you will let me go."

His kidnapper looks at him strangely before slapping her forehead.

"Oh yeah this uh this has to be weird for you."

She clears her throat and puts her arm out for a handshake, the other in a salute.

"Oracle at your service! Reporting for duty, Fox come in."

She stays like that as the gears in Fox's head turn. Of all the things to think about when meeting a brother-in-arms in the fight against hell's monsters, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"You're... shorter than I expected.

Oracle coughs rapidly in shock.

"Well excuse me for not being a lamp pole like you!"

She pouts indignant for a few seconds before it eases from Fox's smile. The two falling back into their normal routine but there was an undercurrent of unease. It felt... off. The weirdness of feeling like friends with someone whose face you've only seen today contrasting with how they shouldn't be so buddy-buddy to begin with. This entire encounter started from possibly never seeing each other again, a reminder as to why they were meant to not be so close.

Fox turns away first, staring ahead at the poster-laden wall.

"Where is my sword?"

Oracle shivers for a moment in her chair. The more warm atmosphere feeling like it had been sucked away by cold reality. He was like a hero out of her manga, but this wasn't some story or at the very least it wasn't hers. She wasn't his nakama. He was a hero but she was no heroine. She was a sidekick, a background character. Someone shut away until they were needed.

Oracle shakes herself out of her self-deprecating spiral, there was no time for that now. She tries to focus on what was asked.

"It's um under the bed. Heh-heh boy we got lucky. The only excuse I could up with was that you were cosplaying. But then your costume faded so I was gonna have to change it to that you were still buying the pieces for it."

Fox nods, pleased at her quick thinking.

"Did anyone see us?"

"No, I didn't see anyone. I even went through any camera feeds to see if there was somebody before wiping them. If anyone was around they were probably trying not to attract attention to themselves or gawking a few blocks over to see Noir and Queen in action. Someone in trouble doesn't really grab anyone's attention nowadays. The way everything is now."

She looks away, rubbing her shoulder awkwardly.

"That just means there's still work to be done."

Oracle quirks an eyebrow and Fox continues.

"It is our mission, isn't it? A world where people don't have to hide away from every bump in the night."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's up to us. That's why P.T. is here!"

She pumps her fist, her arm 'flexing'.

"By the way. Could I... get your first name?"

"Huh?"

"It only seems right."

"Um sure. Just call me Futaba."

"Yusuke."

The absence of last names a reminder they try to push out of their minds.

He puts his arm out, back to the handshake offered earlier but that was it for the day. Yusuke can feel his body starting to fade away from him. His eyelids can't keep themselves open and he starts slipping to unconsciousness. He doesn't hear anything she might have said. Instead, the last thing he can notice is the feeling of her hand slipping softly into his palm.


	5. Chapter 5

“* _Kzzk–zzsh_ * Oracle can you read me?”

“Oracle reporting in, Queen what’s your status?”

“Nothing abnormal on my end. How’s everyone else?”

“Panther’s doing fine and Crow is… Crow.”

“Ugh, you saw that too?”

“Kinda hard not to.”

Queen eases Johanna into a stop at a red light. Out the corner of her vision, she can see an electronics store and crowded around the display window are some pedestrians. Currently enthralled by what they were seeing on tv, paying no mind to the P.T. member just a few feet away. Queen sighs as she has a pretty good idea what they’re seeing.

While most of P.T. tried to lay low considering the ambush a few days earlier, Crow had his ideas. Said idea? Making a big a spectacle as possible. Putting a video up online of him challenging any demons who thought they could take him on. It had gotten so much exposure that regular news media was reporting on it. Even the government made a statement, urging residents to exercise caution and staying inside as their newly established Counter-Demon Force was preparing for what could be the largest-scale demon fight Japan had seen. Readying for something on par of the Inaba incident. An event shrouded in secrecy that had resulted in large numbers of people being found in a trance-like state before dying weeks later, That a demonic deity was projecting its will over the land and other such rumors circulated, whilst everyone else just counted their blessings when it suddenly stopped one day.

That something on that level was mentioned along with Crow, even as a hypothetical comparison, added up to what Crow did was colossally stupid.

The light turns green and Queen pulls ahead, still able to catch a bit Crow’s arrogant tone over the murmuring of the crowd.

“He disappears for a few days without warning and then pulls this nonsense?” She sighs. “Did you really have to help him make the video?”

“Woah, I didn’t help make it. If I did it would’ve been edited better. I just helped it get exposure. Look if it wasn’t for me he might’ve gone with Skull’s _great idea_ of getting interviewed on tv.”

“Were they seriously considering that?”

“I know right? Nobody watches tv anymore, it's all about streaming.”

There’s a burst of static as another P.T. member tries to dial in on their call.

“Oh hey guys. I noticed you two were talk-“

Crow barely makes out before Oracle hits a few keys and cuts him off.

“You sure that wasn’t important?”

“If it's really important he’ll call back.”

Queen can practically hear the shrug through her tone. She wants to challenge Oracle on that but she is P.T.’s eyes and ears throughout the entire city. If Crow was in danger Oracle would notice it. As such, Queen lets it go and changes the subject.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask but have you been able to hear anything from Fox? I wanted to check up on him but I haven’t been able to reach him.”

“He’s been out cold mostly. That’s why he hasn’t been answering.”

“What out cold? Wait, then how do you know?”

“N-No I mean he um radioed in and told me he’s safe but that he’d be out of action for a few days. Yeah that’s what it was. Uh-something’s coming up look I gotta go. I’ll be on standby if you need anything. Oracle Out!”

Queen is unable to say a word in edgewise before Oracle cuts her off.

‘What brought that on?’

As she patrols throughout the night, in the back of her mind, Queen wonders if there was more than what Oracle was letting on.

———

Being so weak was an odd feeling for Yusuke. Yesterday and today he’s been drifting in and out of consciousness. Luckily the times he was awake, Futaba had gotten him food. He wasn’t a fan of how salty or sugary they could be but he couldn’t really complain, though he still did to her dismay. Even luckier were the times that he had to use the bathroom, Futaba’s family was out.

Just an hour ago however her brother had arrived and as such Futaba had thrown Yusuke under a pile of blankets and plushies in case he entered her room.

While she thinks he’s simply been sleeping under all that, he was actually awake and left to think. Anytime he was without her to talk to he spent his time thinking the same thing over and over. How running might've been the best choice at the time, but it was a disgrace it had gotten to such point. Each member of P.T. had to pull their weight. There was no room for failure with stakes this high. These kinds of thoughts would often be followed by visions of his sensei.

Yusuke bides his time until Futaba leaves the room, not even catching what she said. He lifts himself up despite his body’s protests. He bends over the side and reaches under her bed for his sword. Retrieving it, he gets up and goes to her window. He pulls away the curtains and sees the window is not bolted down but has stuck closed from years of disuse. He jerks it open as small plumes of dust drift into the air. He waves them off and looks out the window, down at an alleyway. Turning side to side he sees no one nearby and so jumps off the second floor to the pavement below.

Yusuke tries to land in a crouch, something he's done countless times but never in the condition he's in. He hits the ground too hard and stumbles forward, sword tumbling away from him. He catches his breath and rightens himself, using a nearby dumpster as support. Yusuke walks up and recovers his sword, feeling how bad an idea this all is. Ignoring the thought and pain, he puts up his free hand over his face.

“Goemon.”

The spirit appears beside him. Yusuke closes his eyes as he calls forward Goemon’s protection. A strange feeling yet comfortable energy engulfs him, covering him almost like a second skin before flaring out and separating yet still enveloping his body. He opens his eyes and slides his blade into its holster. Then like a bolt of lighting, he shoots forward and runs down the alleyway.

After running a short distance he jumps on the concrete wall next to him, before leaping onto the opposing wall. Continuing his forward momentum and wall-running, he leaps from the last bit of wall and onto a roof. He’s able to land safely on his feet this time, but Fox is huffing shallow breaths after the act. He puts one hand to his side and tightens his grip around his sword's handle before standing straighter. Steeling his body and will, he runs into the night.

There was work to be done.


	6. Chapter 6

“Oh god oh god oh god-“

Futaba runs from the empty bed to her closet and doesn’t see him there. She looks frantically from side to side. Completely terrified and angry that she somehow lost track of a six-foot tall, bedridden teen.

‘M-Maybe he’s under the bed-‘

A cold chill comes into her room. Futaba slowly turns her head towards her windowsill. The curtains blowing in from a window she’s had locked and shut for over four years.

‘Of all the… muscle-headed…idiotic just-just-‘

“AAAAAGGGGH”

———

After a few calming breaths and an excuse to Akira that her whole False Devil’s Sleep party got ‘crit wiped’, Futaba went to work seeing where exactly Yusuke had gone. What she saw didn’t help her mood. The guy who could barely stand without assistance yesterday was out there fighting for his life. However, it took too long to scan for him across the city and by the time she caught up with him he had retreated. So battered that even he must've accepted to himself that he couldn't fight anymore.

Yet here he was the next day, damaging himself as much as the demons were. What might’ve been a manageable threat any other day was now taking him to the limit. Oracle tried to contact him but she was shut down. She could've forced the issue and programmed his codec to patch her through but then what? What could she say that would help him from getting killed? So she called for backup.

“Okay, I’m there! Where next?”

“He’s two blocks down from your right. Hurry Panther!”

Panther makes a sharp right turn and dashes off the roof. In free fall, she cracks and wraps her whip onto a fifth-floor patio guardrail and swings. At peak height, she unlatches and propels herself toward a fire escape. She lands on one of the lower stairs and lands on its step, then after a second’s pause, she dashes up them. Panther makes it to the building’s roof when she hears the harsh thud of concrete being smashed. She grits her teeth, hoping for the best as she reaches the roof’s edge.

She looks over and sees the trouble Fox is in. He’s currently pinned down in a narrow alleyway, a wall at his back and a Grimehakala closing in. Fox is breathing heavily, his posture and movements all scream a man down that’s down for the count. The demon swipes its heavy sword horizontally, Fox barely able to jump back and dodge. The impact cleaves straight through the brick wall as though it were nothing in the face of its overwhelming might.

“Remember it can reflect physical attacks! You have to use your magic!”

Panther hears Oracle loud and clear as she focuses her persona. She’s taken care of these types of demons before. The right strategy is to keep your distance and bring them down with an onslaught of spells, but there’s no time for that with Fox the way he is.

Carmen fires her Agilao as Panther leaps to join the fray. She jumps from apartment patio to apartment patio before hitting the ground. She lands on the opposite side of where Fox is, sandwiching the demon between them. The Grimehakala screeches in pain as it turns up to where Carmen was. With its attention taken, Fox seizes his chance and Panther right with him.

Panther completely engulfs the demon with Maragion. Its trumpet-like roar is now tenfold as pained and loud as its previous cry. She keeps the flames going as Grimehakala tries to muscle through and crush this new prey.

Fox for his part rubs his free hand down the flat of his sword. Goemon channels his powers and where Fox’s hands leave, his katana becomes engulfed in demon-wrought ice. Now resembling a club more than anything.

The fires die down and Panther can feel the toll such prolonged attacks take from her. She steps back as Grimehakala sees the opening and tries to take it when Fox’s sword cracks into the back of its left knee. The massive demon can’t keep its balance and begins to topple over when Fox starts running up its back and jumping off where the torso meets the neck. As he comes crashing back down to earth he brings his katana down first and breaks Grimehakala’s skull in. After the impact, there’s a ringing silence in the air as the demon passes and fades to smoke before the body can even hit the ground.

With the threat taken care of, Fox tries to land but can barely manage that and starts falling to his knees. Panther runs up to him and puts both hands on his shoulders. She closes her eyes and invokes a Diarama. The light envelopes him as his wounds start healing and his breathing becomes more stable. The immediate issues dealt with she looks him square in the eye. Trying to talk with him face to face so that what she says will resonate.

“Fox this is crazy! What were you thinking? I thought you were taking it easy. You could’ve died right there!”

“Fox you gotta stop. What were you thinking doing this in your condition!” Oracle pipes in from both their headsets.

Panther and Fox get back to their feet. It's hard to read Fox’s expression through his mask but it's clear he’s fighting with himself on this. He slides his katana back into its sheath with a click.

“You’re right. That was foolish of me. I’ll-I’ll stop for today, but I’m not just going to lie in bed while these things wreak havoc.”

“Uh-uh. No, that’s not good enough Fox. We can handle things for a week or two. You need rest.”

Panther punctuates her last statement by jabbing her finger into his chest.

“Fox? Please?”

The way Oracle says that hits Fox deep inside. He’s not used to hearing that tone from her. He doesn’t like hearing his friend sound so… distraught. He knows what she looks like now. He can piece together and picture the way she must look right now, and what he sees pains him.

“…Forgive me, but I cannot do that.”

He turns away and runs. Panther yells at him to stop and tries to give chase when Fox goes in a crouch and slaps the ground with both hands.

“Mabufula!”

The pavement behind him gets layered in a sheet of ice. Panther stops before she nearly slips on it. She calls Panther for an Agilao but she knows its too late The fire burns away the ice, leaving thick steam in its wake. When the air clears she sees Fox is gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Fox dodges back from a mad swipe from a Nue. It pounces and tries more repeated attacks that Fox has to keep jumping away from, trying to find an opening between them all, when a sword comes bursting from its chest. The demon's jaw unhinges and its fierce glare becomes dull. As it fades to smoke he can see the mad grin of Crow.

“Come on Fox. You need to try harder.”

It was like the last sight was a trick of the light. Crow is back to his ‘normal’ smile. Eyes and mouth closed, looking as composed as ever.

“Duck.”

Fox hits the rooftop floor as Crow spares no moment to make sure Fox is safely out of the way and hurls his saber through the air like a javelin, hilt deep into the chest of an Orobas. It screams and tries to pry the weapon out when Crow follows his attack with an Eiga from his persona. Loki skulks behind Crow, faceless yet seeming to smirk all the same. Both persona and wielder in agreement at seeing Orobas suffer. The demon wails and whinnies in pain before Crow allows it to pass on. Commanding Loki to rush forward and bring its sword down, ending the demon’s agony.

Fox didn’t like Crow. He hated the way Crow acted as though everything was an act or a joke only he was in on. There was the disingenuous way he talked or how he seemed to find pleasure in demons' suffering. But what especially got to Fox, was his flippant behavior toward actually protecting people. He seemed more interested in the public's perception of him as a hero rather than doing anything to earn it. Something that permanently marred him in Fox's eyes.

But regardless of the complaints he and the others would bring to the table, Joker would always vouch for Crow. Constantly assuring them that Crow was as committed to P.T.’s objective as any one of them. The others would let it go there. They had faith in Joker's abilities as a leader and his judgment. However they couldn't help but speculate about the two. The leading idea is that maybe one knew something about the other or had something over him. Which was which is the real question.

But despite their misgivings about Crow, he never did anything purposely malicious. He always knew where the line was and loved to stay on it. Oracle and Queen saw it as him just trying to get a rise from them and refused to bite. Noir for her part also defended him, claiming the way he acted was just the way Crow was and they shouldn’t judge him too harshly. That was the last real discussion ever had about Crow. Fox, Panther and Skull conceded the way she fought was pretty similar to his and that she had a point on giving him a chance. Besides, no one wanted to mess with Noir.

Fox reflects on Crow when Oracle's yell snaps his back to reality.

“Fox behind you!”

He senses the looming presence behind him and quickly draws his katana, clashing against an Ares and stopping its brutal slash. His eyes widen as he realizes that without Oracle’s warning he could’ve died right there. More proof shoved right in his face that he was not at a hundred percent today and was completely out of it. Or as the others would say, all week.

The two struggle for dominance when Crow comes to Fox’s aid. Getting to Ares’ side and running the edge of his sword quick against its neck. The demon drops its sword and stumbles back, clutching its throat. Fox calls Goemon to attack, insurance in case Ares tries something in its last moments or maybe just to prove that he could’ve taken care of it, but it fails. Goemon flickers, failing to come forth and Fox starts to hunch over, coughing viciously. His vision starts to blur and he has to fight not to keel over then and there. When the moment passes and he looks back up, Ares is gone.

The last demon dealt with, Fox falls back into a seated position, completely exhausted. Crow doesn’t spare him a look as he dusts off part of his white suit. His outfit immaculate as ever, as though the thought of him getting roughed up was out of the question.

“You a little under the weather Fox? You really shouldn’t overexert yourself.”

Crow chides him. He puts his finger up to his earpiece, no interest in whatever rebuttal Fox may have had.

“Oracle-dear what’s next?”

“I’m picking up some demons several blocks west of you. They’re moving strangely. Like they’re planning something.”

“Numbers?”

“About nine.”

"Hmph. More idiots I take it?"

Crow claps his hands twice and walks up to Fox. Expecting at least a hand to get back up, Fox is instead clapped on the shoulder as Crow keeps walking.

“That’s enough for today.”

Fox turns to see him giving that smile again but with two fingers in a salute this time. Fox can’t get a word in edgewise before Crow leaps off the roof in the direction of Oracle’s last reading.

Given a break for now, Fox can’t keep his poor attempt at being fine going and lies back on the roof. He stares at the night sky, the city lights and air pollution too strong to truly see stars but some small pinpricks of light still filter through.

Fox thinks to himself what he would've even told Crow. Wait up? Beg Crow to let someone who can't even summon their persona to tag along and drag him down? He hates this self-doubt clouding his mind and the weakness throughout his body. Knowing that everyone's concerns about him were right and he should stop. But there's that part in him that won't, that just refuses.

As though she can read his mind, Oracle asks him the same thing he's forced to ask himself. Not in the harsh insulting way like when they argue about something stupid, but something... softer. An earnest plea.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

He can feel the walls inside begin to crack as he tries to figure that out himself.

“I... I don't know." His mind scrambles for an excuse. "People are in peril all the time. I can't just take a break whilst someone could be out there dying, praying for someone to help."

"Isn't that why you're part of a team? So you don't have to do it all by yourself?"

"That's not just it. It's the demons. They're getting too brazen. Their fellows got the jump on us and they think the city is theirs. I can't allow them an inch.”

“You’re giving them way too much credit. The ones you fought just now couldn’t even speak."

“They’re attuned to their base instincts. They can sense weakness."

“So you’re response was to go out there and show them how weak you really are?”

Fox sits backs up. Frustrated at how clear and real his fear is to someone miles away.

“No-no-no-no! You don’t get it. I don’t mean you’re weak. You're one of the best heroes this country has, heck maybe even the world! I just mean you’re going out there half-baked y'know. You need rest. I don't... I don't want to see you die cause you were too stubborn to just take a week off."

It's hard for Fox to fight her logic.

"It's more difficult than you think. It... feels wrong to take it easy. I just sit at home all day." Fox struggles to get the words out. "I can't even draw, all I can picture in my head is someone I'm failing to help save."

On the other side of the city, Oracle sits curled up in her chair. She's pleased to hear Fox open up and talk about this but also struggling to find an answer for him. She hears what he's accidentally let slip. That he lives alone, probably doesn't have a lot of friends. Possibly distancing himself so he can focus on P.T. Trying to help the helpless as best he can. She also knows him well enough to see how much his art means to him. And right now both have been taken away from him. The only things he can do, Gone.

'It must be hard to go through something like that all by yourself.'

Oracle looks up. An idea flashes through her head.

"That's it. You are too in your own head. You're thinking about this stuff too hard." She realizes that she's thinking out loud and the words spill out before she can stop. "You can't be trusted with yourself."

Fox looks confused.

"What do you-"

"And since you can't be trusted with yourself, I'll be taking care of you. From now on you’ll be under my jurisdiction. You’ll be under my watch 24/7!”

"Are you sure that's wise?"

Fox is unsure of whether spending so much time with Oracle outside of demon hunting was a good idea. Although they have already broken that rule, even if it was extenuating circumstances. And if he's being honest with himself, it doesn't sound like the worst idea. He can see it now, not being forced to have his uncertainties constantly badger him. Just talking with a friend to pass the time until he's healed.

On the other end, Oracle's brain is completely fried. She has spent way too much time by herself and not with people. Forgetting to turn on her mental filter and say something more politely or diplomatically. But more importantly, Fox isn't rejecting it. He seems to be considering it. She tries to rationalize it. All Fox needs is to take a few days off and break out of this reckless behavior of his. Just long enough for his body to recover. She can do that, she can keep an eye on him. It's the best idea Oracle can come up with and she rolls with it.

"Y-Yeah, I'll send you an address. I'll see you there at noon. A-And don't even think about trying to stay on patrol tonight. My orders!"

She drops off the line. Fox is confused about what exactly happened. When did keeping in contact turn into an invitation to meetup? But despite never agreeing to it, he doesn't feel opposed to it. He gets back up, feeling lighter inside than he has since the ambush. He returns home having heeded Oracle's demands and curious about what tomorrow may bring.


	8. Chapter 8

Futaba's nerves were on edge. She wishes for nothing more but to shrink into her coat. It wasn’t even that cold today; she wore the extra layer as if to hide herself in. Sojiro’s café was usually a safe haven for her, an island in a sea of having to and avoiding interacting with people. It’s the only place she can feel comfortable outside her own house. But today was different. The familiar sights and smells were swept away with the knowledge of why she is here. 

She didn’t know what she could do to help Yusuke. What insights did she have to offer? She tried to assuage her fears. If nothing else, she could make sure he didn't try to pull any daytime patrols. She could keep an eye on him and just talk. And maybe just maybe, that's all he needs right now, but what did she know about helping people? 

She couldn’t even help herself. Futaba lived trapped in her room and own self-destruction for years until Sojiro took in Akira. Months passed, and her strange roommate became like a brother to her. He came into her life, worked his magic, and somehow managed to help her. True, she wasn't perfect now. She wasn't magically cured of her social awkwardness, but that she was able to leave her room and not back out was something the old Futaba could never do. She didn’t know how Akira did it. She even tried to ask him for tips for today. Though he didn't try to pry into her business, his advice wasn't as useful. He would only shrug and say that there was no trick to it. How sometimes, all it takes is listening to break through to someone. 

‘As if it's that easy. This isn’t some dating sim Akira! I can’t get to the good ending by just mashing through dialogue. I need hints!'

She checks her phone’s clock. It was almost time for Yusuke to show up. She had shown up early to try and ease herself into being ready to no avail. Hoping that maybe some flash of brilliance would come to her before the time arrived, but all that came was tension and doubt.

‘Maybe-Maybe, this was too far away. Should I have tried to be more considerate? Then again, it’s not like I know where he lives. _Ugh._ ’ 

She slumps down and puts her chin down at the tabletop, already feeling exhausted from today. She looks out the corner of her vision and can see Akira at the counter, preparing something for another customer. At least something was going right today, that she accidentally picked a day Akira was minding the shop. She honestly couldn't complain about it since Sojiro never had the chance to, but god forbid she was going to try and see him bust out the strict dad act today. 

/ _Ding-a-ling/_

She straightens right back up as the bell over the door frame rings. She looks over and sees that its Yusuke, right on time. The door closes behind him, but he stays in place at the front. He closes his eyes and takes in the scent of the café for a moment before smiling. After that, he looks around for her. Futaba realizes she’s just been frozen in place, staring, and waves him over. He walks over to the booth and sits across from her. 

“Hello, Futaba.” 

“Um, hey.” 

The two look at each other in silence. Neither knowing exactly what to say. The days at her house felt less awkward. There was a real excuse for why they had to spend time together. Here it feels tenuous like they’re both walking on a tightrope. But neither knows what's at the bottom. What were they afraid of? The rest of P.T. finding out? Or something else?

'ohgod-ohgod-ohgod-ohgod-ohg--'

Thankfully, Akira breaks the silence by walking up to take Yusuke’s order. After he goes off to get it ready, Yusuke tries his hand at breaking the ice. 

“I have to say this is a lovely place you’ve picked.” 

“Oh! Yeah, my -um I mean I know the guy who runs the place.” 

“Really? Would it happen to be him?” 

He tilts his head to gesture toward Akira. 

‘Wait, I know this.’ 

Futaba rests her elbow on the table, her chin resting on the back of her hand. 

“Why? Jealous?” 

“Well, I do have to say this seems like a great place. I would love to come here more often.” 

He fails to see the bait for what it was.

'Crit fail! +0 to bond support! -5 to spirit!'

At that moment, Akira comes back with Yusuke's drink. Yusuke thanks him and takes a quick sip. His eyes then flutter open as he pulls his coffee away from himself and gapes at it. 

“By gods. This is phenomenal.” 

He grabs Akira by the sleeve. 

“Please give my compliments to the chef.” 

If Futaba weren’t in public, she would’ve slammed her head against the table. 

‘Oh… Oh yeah, he’s an idiot.’ 

Instead, she feels a giggle rise in her throat before shoving it back down quickly. 

“Y-Yusuke, please let the man go.” 

He stares blankly at her for a moment before doing what she asks. Akira tries to take it in stride before going back behind the counter.

“Um, thank you.” 

Meanwhile, the mood doesn't feel as awkward as before, like a weight got lifted off Futaba's shoulders. She feels more comfortable for some reason. The small talk comes to her easily.

“Yusuke, do you go to school?”

He takes another sip from his coffee before answering.

“ _Ahh_ , I was the last time I checked.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“I haven’t been there in a few days. They've probably expelled me already.” 

“Wha- Yusuke, you were gone for a week. They’re not going to expel you for that. Isn't this your first offense?” 

“Well, my fellow classmates and teachers seem to hold a low opinion of me. Who knows what rumors they’re spreading about me.” 

“Considering what I know about you? Probably that you got busted robbing an art supply shop. No, wait! Graffiti! Definitely graffiti.” 

"Hardly, you can't get in trouble for putting art on public property."

"Yusuke... did you vandalize your school?"

"No, because a school is public property, it's not vandalizing."

"Oh yeah, what did the cops say?

"They let me off with a warning because it was my first offense. They, of course, couldn't deny the merit of my mural. They knew I was in the right."

"What did the school do?"

"Order me to stay after class for a week to clean it up."

" _snrrk_ _haha-ha_! Of course!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

\------

The two would go on to talk the whole day away before splitting off, having joked and argued about all sorts of things with each other. No progress was made that day on Yusuke's mental block, yet it didn't feel like a waste of time to them.

Yusuke would return home by sundown, later than he had expected. His first thought was to lay in bed for a while, feeling a bit tired from his day out. He promised Futaba he wouldn't do anything stupid, so he planned to go back to his art instead before turning in for the day. But as soon as his head hit the pillow, he found he had slept till morning. He still woke up feeling sore but felt better than he had lately.

All in all, he looked forward to seeing Futaba again later that day as well. He previously rationalized seeing her as necessary for his recovery, but that drifted away from his thoughts. He honestly just looked forward to seeing his friend again.

When Futaba returned home, she thought about why she was so nervous that day. She recognized a large part of it was the situation at hand, but she realized the other side of it was Fox. Yusuke was practically an anime protagonist. A dashing fighter-no, a hero of the people against the demon infestation. Giving it his all for the sake of others. Whereas Futaba was just... Futaba. There was nothing to her name; she was a NEET with a side gig as superhero receptionist. She felt this massive gulf between them, that the two couldn't really connect that before was just a fluke. But after seeing his… antics in person, she sees him for what he really is. Someone just as weird as her. 


	9. Chapter 9

Today was a bit different than usual. After another day at Leblanc, Yusuke had suggested a change of scenery. Futaba was apprehensive at first, but she agreed. It helped dodge the Sojiro bullet at least, who approved of 'her going out to get some games by herself without needing a chaperone.' So for today, they met up at the aquarium. 

She caught up with him at the entrance. They bought their tickets and even some snacks before they enter inside. They came in on an early weekday afternoon, so it was fairly empty. The only ones around were a couple of families with their kids or a few people out on dates. Yusuke and Futaba got the occasional look, but no one paid them any mind. For the first hour, they just strolled throughout the exhibits. The dark rooms illuminated through the in-tank lights, flooding the space in blues. 

Yusuke stops by one of the large tanks and crouches down. He stares intently at a fish that's caught his eye. A small, light red fish that was gazing through the glass at him. 

"Futaba, look. What do you think it's trying to tell me? What could marine life say to us if we could only listen?" 

" _Mham_ , I don't know. Probably just demands for food honestly. Maybe asking us to eat the fish they don't like." 

She says through a mouthful of strawberry froyo. 

"Ooh Ooh, Check out that one! Look at that idiot." 

Futaba points to one left of Yusuke, a black and white chunky one. Its fins were constantly flapping, and its mouth was opening and shutting dimly.

"Please be quiet." 

Futaba rolls her eyes, but she complies. She takes one last bite before throwing her cup and spoon away at a nearby trashcan. 

"Y'know Yusuke. This has been fun and all, but I feel like something is bugging you." 

He stays in his position but looks up at her, amazed she picked him apart so easily. 

"The fact you didn't pose or burst my eardrums shouting when you saw something is a bit of a giveaway." 

He ignores the dig at his mannerisms as he looks back at the tank. 

"Am I... a liability?" 

"What?!" 

He gets up and goes over to a bench at the end of the room. Positioning himself so that he could see both doorways in, ensuring no one overhears their conversation. He sits down, hunched over. 

"The demons. When I was out there, they seemed to focus on me. 

They saw me for who I was, a weakling. They knew I backed away and so went in for the kill. They thought P.T. was weak because of me. They saw weakness and tried to take us all down. And maybe they were right." 

Futaba's shocked to hear Yusuke be so upfront about what's been eating at him. She's glad he's admitting what he's been hiding, but what he's saying doesn't fit with what she knows. She puts it together in her head. There's no way information like that could spread so quickly. Not all demons were friends with each other. There wasn't some devil forum that they all logged onto daily to let each other know what was up. Besides, P.T. won that fight. They blew those demons back with only one member going down. Even then, Yusuke stood his ground and made them fight for every drop of blood they wanted to shed. If anything, that would spread how unstoppable they were.

And the demons weren't targeting him. Yusuke had to go out of his usual territory to pick those fights, preoccupied with trying to prove his skills to himself. Of all the attacks that followed post ambush, they mostly centered on where Crow kept making a spectacle of himself. Wait! The message! 

"Yusuke, that was Crow. It's wasn't you." 

She goes over to him and explains Crow and Skull's stupid idea. The challenge over the airwaves. The rise in demon activity and the miracle that half the city didn't get razed. How they were lucky that only the dumber demons took the bait. Not that those demons could see through Yusuke. He listens intently as his posture begins to relax. 

"I-I see. _Haha._ I must have looked like a real fool to you all." 

She's glad she was able to ease him of his doubts, but Futaba's brain wasn't done calculating away. That Yusuke would shoulder all that blame onto himself. Or how in all the time they talked, he never brought up his family or any passing mention of people he was close to. It was normal not to want to expose too much of your private life, but even Queen would let something slip about her sister, or Skull would tell a funny story about school, etc. She sits down beside him. 

"Yusuke. You've lost something, haven't you? You lost something that made you think like that." 

If he wanted to, he could've come up with some way out of this discussion. But he can see what Futaba's getting at. He knows the shadow that's been looming over, not just this but everything about him. 

"I... never knew my mother. Or my father either. Instead, I was taken in by my mother's friend and teacher." 

Yusuke seems to be smiling at the memory, but Futaba can see his eyes betray that. 

"Sensei was a brilliant man. He taught me all he could about painting. He had no obligation to take an orphan like me in, yet he did. Sometimes, when I showed him my work, he'd say he could see my mother shine through it. That I was just as good as she was and how proud she must be looking down from above." 

Yusuke puts his hands together. His fingers interlace, gripping against each other. 

"...It was a couple of weeks after the first sighting of the demons. I can still remember the news at the time. People were constantly speculating that it was all a hoax or some act of war. Sensei tried to comfort me. He told me not to worry about all that. That I should channel however I felt right then and there into art. How in times like these, art can express more than any book. ...It was in the middle of the day. All the reports coming in said they showed up at night, so we thought we were safe. I was on the second floor. I was trying to sketch when I heard a crash and scream from below. I-I remember running downstairs and seeing him, trapped in the jaws of some beast. All I could do was run. I ran away, unable to do a thing to help someone who I owed so much to. And here I am, all these years later and nothing's changed." 

Futaba's horrified at hearing his story. She doesn't know what to say to that. She did have an idea, but it would sound hollow coming from what he knows of her. And so she decides to meet Yusuke and share her pain as well. 

"I don't know my father either, though I did have my mother. I remember she was always working. When she wasn't working, she was cooking. When she wasn't cooking, she was cleaning. She was always so busy, but it never got to her. She never let it get her down. She was my hero." 

Futaba folds her arms over her stomach. 

"It was sometime around the first confirmed demon sighting. I remember her talking about us moving. Something about her job offering something to its employees. She was so desperate to take it that we left in the middle of the night. I'm... not even sure what happened. One minute we were driving, and then it all went black. When I came to, the car was upside down. It was so hot in there. I-I can still remember how my mother looked right then. She couldn't get out, but she didn't worry about herself. She just told me to run. And so I did." 

Futaba shudders. 

"...There was so much screaming and gunfire out there. An SDF soldier saw me and got me out of there. I was stuck in custody for a while before I got taken in by a friend of my mom's. I was so scared by what happened. My mom could do anything, and she was gone just like that. What was stopping that from happening to me? What was stopping that from happening to anyone I ever cared about again?" 

She looks back up and sees Yusuke's shocked expression, probably the same as how she looked a few minutes ago. But there was an important distinction between what happened to them. Futaba had Sojiro, she had Akira. She even has a couple of friends she knows through the net. But Yusuke? It seems like Yusuke had this bottled up for so long. No one to share this with, letting what had happened fester inside of him. 

"Believe me. I know what you're going through. But you can't... You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't stop. Yusuke, you can't save everyone. But just because you can't save everyone doesn't mean you're a failure. There are so many people you've helped out there, many of them not even knowing it's you to thank. You've done all you could and then some. You've gone above what anyone could ask for. You are making a difference." 

She looks him deep in his eyes as she talks. And by the end of it, she can see his eyes start to water. He looks away from her and stares straight ahead.

"Futaba, I appreciate hearing that." 

She can see tears roll down his face. She slides closer. Futaba hesitates for a moment. Unsure, but she does anyway and strokes his back. He shivers at her touch but doesn't tell her off. The two stay there a while, just letting Yusuke have some time to deal with what he's feeling. The two souls wrapped in understanding. 

\------- 

A few more days would pass before Fox made an appearance. Everyone at P.T. welcomed him back but were still concerned, so they kept backup around in case he hadn't fully recovered. But after Skull reported in how well Fox was doing, how he was tearing through demons like nothing, they put a stop to it. Yusuke always had a one-track mind when it came to hero work, but now was different. He was invigorated, the chains that had tied him down for years were gone.

Fox was back. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you sure about this, Oracle?"

"Sure about-huh!? You're the one who came up with this stunt!"

He adjusts his gloves.

"Well, all's well that goes well."

Joker runs at top speed across the rooftop. When he nears the edge, he crouches, rolls, and handsprings off the building. He calls Arsene in midair. As the two fall, Arsene grabs its master from behind. Its wings flow back and flicker in the wind as they come plummeting down, like an ebony meteor through the night. Before he can get too close to the ground, Joker angles up and shoots his grappling hook. It latches securely, and he's able to swing through the air. Joker completes the swing at peak height and detaches the hook, then Arsene spreads its wingspan so the two glide back down. He lands crouched on a different roof from where he's started, though not crossing much distance.

"Eh, that was alright. You kinda botched the swing and landing there. I'll give you a 7/10. You're no Panther I'll say that much."

"How were the shots?"

"Terrible. It turns out there's a reason movie studios don't use surveillance cameras for filming."

"Did you at least get the shot of Arsene and me eclipsing the moon?

" _ Sigh, _ yes. It's pretty blurry, though."

Joker's phone beeps, he sees Oracle has forwarded him the picture.

"No, this works. It's like a freelance photographer tried and was only able to catch a glimpse."

"Honestly, I think you're trying too hard. Part of the appeal of P.T. is being like effortlessly cool."

_ " _ Hmm, you have a good point. I'll tell Crow I tried, but his plan isn't going to work."

" _ Pfft _ , you're telling me. If I was some guy looking up the phansite for info on P.T. and saw a bunch of heroes wasting time trying to pull off sick tricks, I would be incredibly worried about my safety. Although... Can we wait till we see him try to convince Queen to do an ollie off Johanna?"

"That doesn't make sense."

"I know. That's why it sounds exactly like something Crow would ask."

Joker snaps his finger, and Arsene slips into the night. He takes his dagger out and fiddles with it, rolling the handle through his fingers before tossing it up. As it falls, he slips his index finger through the hole in its hilt and swings it in a circle.

"I gotta say, it's nice that we can try things like this ever since it calmed down a bit. Especially with Fox."

"If it got too bad, would you have kicked him out?"

"I don't know about that. I like the idea of tying him up to a chair for a few days till he calmed down."

"You can be a scary dude sometimes Joker."

"It wouldn't be that bad. I'd remember to feed him and take him out for walks do his business, the whole nine yards."

He stops spinning his dagger.

"Though it is a bit odd how his attitude changed."

"What do you mean?"

"You saw how stubborn he was acting. I was joking earlier, but I was getting concerned. I was worried he wouldn't quit it until he got himself killed. Queen and I were talking and decided we were going to stake out and physically stop him. But before we could do anything, he just stopped on his own. It's strange."

Oracle pulls her headset mic away from her. She couldn't think of anything to help cover for Fox. She assumed that as soon as he got back to normal, everything else would too. 

'Now it's a problem that's he's not a problem? C'mon work with me a little.'

Necronomicon cuts off her train of thought with a quick series of beeps. She looks over at her monitor and sees her system has caught onto something. Oracle breathes a sigh of relief before talking to Joker.

"We're gonna have to put some brakes on that topic. I'm getting a reading from the police scanner. It sounds like they got their hands full with a big one."

"Read you loud and clear."

Joker flicks his wrist and grips his dagger downside-up.

"Let's get the show rolling."

\------

Yusuke and Futaba's relationship was a strange one. Futaba had somehow jumped from an assistant (acquaintance, co-worker?) to nurse to therapist, and now sits comfortably somewhere around friend. It all felt so bizarre. The two's lack of people skills also gave them nothing to help fall back on. All they had was what they felt. And what they felt, was that it was wrong to cut each other out of their lives after the time they spent together. They trusted each other, so even if it was a betrayal of P.T.'s rules, they decided to meet again. Nothing serious hanging over their heads, just two friends hanging out together.

Today's agenda? Catching a movie Futaba was interested in. They had just left the theater and were on their way to the subway station. She takes a sip of her drink, mostly air at this point, before speaking up.

"Sooooo, what did you think?"

"I'd say I enjoyed Cake Knight Returns more than I expected. Although I would've liked to see the film with a more stable camera, it was difficult catching the fight choreography."

Futaba tosses a piece of popcorn up at his mouth. He stops his rambling to try and catch it. But Yusuke fails, and it bounces off his cheek. Futaba continues the conversation as Yusuke frowns slightly.

"Honestly? I'm surprised you didn't hate it on principle when the colors were so drab."

"The film was trying to go for realism. I respect the art form it tried to accomplish."

"Huh? Realism is an artform? But that's just reality, and if reality is art, doesn't that mean everything is? And if everything's art, wouldn't that make art meaningles-

Yusuke's already quit listening. While Futaba kept walking, He stopped and has crossed his arms over his chest. His fingers tensely outstretched.

"Yes! I'm reaching you!"

Futaba rolls her eyes.

"Guess I walked into that one."

She looks over at him, about to yell something about picking up the pace when the words stop in her throat. Yusuke had that look on his face when he was getting too passionate over art. She was glad seeing him act like his usual self, and yet Futaba felt an odd clenching sensation inside her chest. She chalked it up to seeing Yusuke like this after being so dour for a while. She was glad seeing him try and to move on with his life.

And she and Yusuke came out the other side of it closer than before. Someone she once had on a pedestal, she's walking with as an equal. Futaba's heartbeat speeds up when she thinks about it like that.

Walking with.

Together.

Like a coupl-

'Oh, no.'

Futaba thought as her face heated up. 

So much for everything going back to normal.


	11. Chapter 11

'Okay. Okay, let's just calm down.'

Futaba is sitting knees crossed on her bed. She slowly breathes in, then out. She is trying to ignore what's been bothering her when her phone's text tone goes off. She stops her faux meditation and checks it instinctively. The message opens, and she sees that it's something from Yusuke. It was a piece he was working on. It depicted a swarming, manic darkness stretching from edge to edge. A maw of chaos attempting and failing to envelop a sunflower in its center.

": I was attempting to sketch again today. I'm pleased with how it's turning out. Thoughts?"

She can feel a smile bubble over her face. A smidge of the prior worry washing away. And-

" _~Badump-Badump~!_ "

She can hear her heart racing. In sheer embarrassment, Futaba drops her phone and throws her body back on the bed. She rolls from side to side until she stops and stuffs her face in a pillow, her feet kicking into the air.

"NO-NO-NO!"

Her screams muffle into the pillow. The outburst past, She rolls to be on her back. She stares at the ceiling.

'This can't be happening. This isn't real. There's a glitch going on here. The bug testers didn't do their job, and now I'm on a path the devs left unfinished in the code. That's what all this is.'

Futaba had her work cut out for her just being friends with someone. This? She was beyond unequipped for this. 

'Where are my three branching choices? What are they even? Run away? Ignore? Or-Or-Or...'

She stifles the urge to scream again. Futaba has exhausted herself thinking this over, the panic starting to leave her feeling drained. 

For a while now, Fox had been her primary concern and then a focal point of her life. She was scaring herself with how much her time was spent revolved around Yusuke—talking, messaging, and thinking about him.

'Watching out for him was one thing, but this? This isn't going to fly. Maybe-Maybe Joker was right. We shouldn't be so close. This is just too weird.'

Everything Futaba thought about Yusuke was now put on tilt. The time they shared, the things they know about each other, all of it felt invalid. A friendship had mutated into a stupid schoolgirl crush. What gave her the right to feel this way? She jeopardized her team and bond with someone, and it wasn't enough for her. Futaba wanted more. 

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had dug a big enough hole for herself. It had been nice, but now it was time to do the right thing.

'I guess all I can do is... keep my distance. Stop being clingy and hope this passes.'

She rolls to her side, staring at one of the few blank spaces she has left on her wall. Futaba frowns.

'I hate this.'

\------

Noir drops her ax on a downed Anubis. The demon already so weakened, that the impact from the weapon just falling killed it outright. The ax continues and phases through the remains, denting into the asphalt. Noir rests her arm off the blunt end and puts her other hand above her eyes, scanning the road for any stragglers.

Meanwhile, Panther snaps her whip around the neck of an Oberon.

It puts its hands to it and tries to pry its neck free, leaving itself wide open. Fox dashes past, slashing his sword across Oberon's chest as he does. As the body keels over dead, Panther cracks her whip back for another swipe. Fox follows suit as he lays his sword on its sheath, readying for another cut.

"Oracle is there any-"

"No, I'm not reading anything. It's all clear. It is getting pretty late, though. I gotta pack it in for tonight. I'll reach you guys if the scanners pick up something."

Fox looks puzzled as the line goes dead. As the others ease their stance, Panther pokes fun at his confusion.

"Well, that was rough. _Snicker."_

"I hardly see the humor."

"I don't either really. But I'm sure whatever you did, deserved that response."

Noir tries to sympathize as she also picks up on Oracle seeming off just then.

"Did you say something to upset her?"

"She did seem troubled when I... spoke with her yesterday. But I can't think of anything I said that might have irritated her."

Panther hmms as Noir offers her thoughts.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be something serious. Maybe her parents were yelling at her to go to bed. It is pretty late."

"Ugh _,_ you're telling me. At this point, I might as well not even got to sleep."

"Oh? Are you going to take the opportunity to study? I seem to remember you complaining about your grades earlier."

"On second thought Noir, I think a nice nap sounds pretty good right now." 

Panther mutters over Noir's giggle. She starts heading off.

"I'll catch you guys later." 

Noir tells Fox not to worry before also heading home. Fox meanwhile stays where he is, still mulling it over. He can admit that he might just be reading too much into a clipped tone; it wouldn't be the first time he made her mad without knowing why. Yet he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his chest.


	12. Chapter 12

"Nah Skull. I got nothing."

"Alright. You know how to reach us."

Skull sits down, dangling his feet off the rooftop edge. It had been slower than usual for a patrol day. Fox, Skull, and Joker had already made their rounds and now met back up, making one last check for activity before calling it a night.

Oracle begins to cut the transmission when Fox cuts in.

"Oracle?"

"...Yes? What is it?"

He tries to think of what to say, but the words escape him. Not because Joker and Skull were right there. No, he was just at a loss.

"It's nothing."

"Alright then."

The transmission goes dead. Fox slowly puts his hand back down from his earpiece.

"Is something up?"

Joker asks, unable to ignore that uncomfortable exchange.

"I think Oracle is upset with me."

" _ Psh _ , that's nothing new."

Skull interjects.

"I'm being serious. She refuses to even acknowledge my existence. She will only talk to me on patrols and only when she can't speak around me by directing it at someone else."

"Wait, you two talk off patrols? About what?"

Yusuke grimaces at Joker's question. He realizes he's slipped up.

"Its nothing serious. Just... shared interests. Besides, it's not as if I only talk to her. Even Skull sends me messages checking up on me from time to time."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have to if you remembered to eat once in a while! Seriously, sometimes I think your body just runs off paint fumes."

"Your concern is noted. It's just that... I'm concerned about her welfare."

"Hmm, you know you might be on to something. She does seem pretty down lately."

"That's precisely what I was thinking."

"Regardless, whatever's happening with her is her business. If it's something that needs P.T.'s input, she'll ask. We should leave it alone."

Joker says with a tone that ended any prospect of continuing the discussion.

Fox reluctantly nods in agreement. He wants to disagree but can't afford to cast more suspicion on him and Oracle. Regardless of how it ate at him.

\------

One week ago at five pm. That was when Yusuke received his last message from Futaba. He was currently sitting at his dorm room's desk, staring at his phone and trying to put it all together.

'She's never been this angry before. What happened? Did I do something??'

Every day now, Yusuke was coming face-to-face with this brick wall. What do I do? How do I help someone when I don't know what's wrong? P.T. told him it was nothing. Give her space. But he knew otherwise. There was something to this.

Yusuke puts his phone down. He knows he's doing nothing but exhausting himself trying to find an answer to a question he doesn't even know. He picks up his pencil and tries to do some homework. It was something to keep him occupied at least.

As he does, his mind drifts to how funny this all is, how he was spending so much time and focus on her—a far cry from when she first entered his life.

It all happened after Joker and Noir teamed up one night. The day after, Joker said that he'd be out of contact for a while and had Queen sub in for him. A week later, he came back and gave them all the codecs they use now, a vast upgrade over using their phones, and introduced them to Oracle. She was only there through codec however, as her role didn't require her to be in person. Joker explained it would help keep her out of the spotlight from both demons and the government as her persona was ill-suited for combat. Joker was vague on details about Oracle but allowed Noir to tell the others what she knew. So it fell on Noir to relay how she joined.

On that last patrol night, Oracle had got caught up in the path of a rampaging Pendragon. Joker and Noir overheard the commotion and arrived shortly after. When they arrived, they found her scared witless, wrapped in black translucent wrappings, while the persona they'd later know as Necronomicon was clutching the demon in its tendrils. However, Pendragon was far stronger and soon broke out of its hold, so Noir and Joker stepped in. As the fight went on, Oracle was able to tap into Necronomicon's true talents: analysis. And with her help, Noir and Joker managed to find Pendragon's weakness and take it down. 

Afterward, it was Noir who suggested recruiting her into P.T. Joker was apprehensive about her joining, but when Oracle jumped at the chance at stopping demons, he relented.

Yusuke was initially unsure about their latest addition. He found P.T. to be doing well enough without some kind of mission control. But he admitted her scanning and surveillance abilities were a major boon and helped them stamp out demonic presences more efficiently than before. Now, if only her personality were as pleasant, he thought back then.

He smiles at the memory. While the two had argued back and forth about everything from practically day one, he now looks back at it fondly. Somehow she wormed her way into becoming a close confidant of his.

It was odd, really. How the way he felt about her changed since then, and how he feels now without her. It almost felt like... an addiction, how deprived he felt without her around. 

Yusuke's pencil's tip breaks. The snap bringing him back to what he was supposed to be doing. He looks back at his paper. His clean writing had devolved into scribbles as his brain went on auto-pilot. He erases his answer and begins to try again. But before he can continue where he's left off, and against his better judgment, he picks his cellphone up again, but this time dials her.

The tone rings, but Futaba never picks up. Yusuke puts the phone back down and returns to do his schoolwork. But despite how hard he tried, his mind kept going back to her.


	13. Chapter 13

"Girl problems, eh?"

"Pardon?"

Yusuke didn't know why he was here. He had felt listless staying at home and decided to walk about town and, without realizing it, had made his way to Cafe Leblanc. He knew better than to hope Futaba was there but entered anyway. He ended up being right about that, but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to be, so he stayed. He took a seat up at the counter and ordered what he had last time. Yusuke stayed there for a while, lost in thought, and idly sipping his drink when the owner had struck up a conversation. 

Yusuke looks over the man's apron for a nametag to no avail.

"Just call me Sojiro."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Yusuke." 

"Well, Yusuke, whats a fellow like you doing here all by yourself instead of making up with your girlfriend."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, you don't have to pretend."

Sojiro picks up a coffee cup and wipes it over with a washcloth.

"I used to be _quite_ the player back in my day, believe it or not. I know relationship troubles when I see him."

"You misunderstand. We're not-romantically entangled. We're just friends."

"Uh-huh. So tell me. What is it about your uh-friend that has got you so down?"

"I believe I've upset her, and I don't understand what it is I've done."

"Oh, is that all?"

"It's not just that. She refuses to talk to me if she can help it. I'm lucky to get a word out of her some days."

Sojiro strokes his goatee.

"The silent treatment, eh?"

Yusuke looks down at his coffee cup. Staring at the drink's distorted reflection of him.

"My team-friends tell me I'm making too much out of nothing."

"And what do your friends think about you and her?"

"I don't believe they think much of anything about us. They don't exactly... know how close we are."

"What? You haven't told them you're with this girl?"

"I don't believe they would approve."

"And how do you feel about her?"

"Well, it's strange. For the longest time, we couldn't get along thanks to our clashing personalities. Though I feel like recently, we've become closer. But perhaps that too was just me reading too much into it."

"Hmm, She sounds a bit more trouble than she's worth. Why not find someone else?"

Yusuke shakes his head.

"You have it all wrong. She isn't someone I can just up and replace. She means a lot to me."

"So what are you doing here moping instead of talking it out with her. If you care that much, it sounds like you should be trying harder for her."

Yusuke pauses to mull over Sojiro's words. Then he quickly downs the last of his drink. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out all the bills he has. Yusuke throws them down on the countertop and gets up.

"Thank you, sir, for your insight. You are absolutely right. I must see Futaba. Whatever it is that's ailing her, I should be there to help her with." 

And with that, Yusuke ran out of Cafe Leblanc like a man on a mission. Leaving Sojiro puzzled from his last words.

"...Futaba?"

\------

This wasn't supposed to happen at all. 

She was trying to push him away, steadily drift from him, and have them return to simpler times. Acquaintances that maybe knew too much about each other, but that was it. An arm's breadth as they always should've been.

And here she was, curled up, back against her house's front door, the one person she didn't want to see on the other side.

"Futaba, please. I don't know what's hurting you. I don't know if it was something I did or something else, but please. I want to understand. Let me talk to you."

Futaba legs start rattling against each other. Her face flushes at what she's hearing. This wasn't what she planned or wanted at all.

But there was that small part of her, the part that made everything so awkward between them, rising up and beaming. Riding high on the unwanted feelings and thoughts that she was not something so easily cut from Yusuke's life.

The part she couldn't let make things worse than they already were.

"It doesn't-It doesn't concern you, alright! It's not anything that matters."

"If it doesn't mean so much, why can't you tell me?"

Futaba doesn't know what more she can say, she doesn't even know what she wants right now. And here Yusuke is, churning her insides around and making everything worse. 

It was like the old connection they had was a bridge long crossed and burned. The world turned, and now she found herself stopped halfway at a dark, unfamiliar road—one that she was finding impossible to not walk.

"Futaba, I'm not going to leave you. I will stay here all night if I have to. Let me in, please."

Futaba gets up slowly and faces the door. She can feel the tears that were peaking from her eyes start to stop. She takes a deep breath and opens the door.

And unbeknownst to either person, that wasn't all today had in store. For without her and upstairs, her surveillance program was still at work and was picking up on something.

The feeds showed a humanoid-beast with dozens of arms and three faces. It towered over three stories tall, a mass of writhing limbs that each only knew destruction. Hecatoncheires. 

Call it fate or poor luck, but the path of destruction it was walking, cut in the direction of the Sakura house.


	14. Chapter 14

Demons with their unique skills and characteristics, of course, vary from size to size. You had ones like Pixie and Sudama, ones that capped out at your forearm if they were particularly strong. They could come as tall as a man like Berserker, or truck-sized like Cerberus. Demons were complex creatures of mayhem, however. Something as small as Taotie or unassuming like Thoth still packed incredible destructive abilities. They were not simple enough to have size correlating with power as a rule among them. But standing under the might of this one, it was impossible not to think so.

Hecatonchires was massive, a horrid monstrosity whose body loomed larger than life. The beast had too many arms, each one pawing for something to grab. A bus, a chunk of a building, streetlights: anything that got too close was caught, crushed, or thrown. And the faces. They didn't even seem to be looking at what it was doing or going. Its eyes permanently faced up. Its mouths stretched open, raging at the sky.

Strangest of all, though, was how Hecatonchires treated humans. It did try to grab some, but it did it with equal importance as anything else it destroyed. Hecatonchires didn't care what it was. All it craved was destruction, a hot fury at humanity and its creations, or perhaps the world itself. 

But that was why P.T. was here.

"Hyah, Heat Riser! Go Skull!" 

"Captain Kidd Zionga!" 

Lighting comes crashing down on the beast. The whole body lights up, but the thing doesn't stop. Maybe if you squinted, it would look more angered or pained, but it was hard to tell with its repulsive form. And without a reading from Oracle, they didn't know if they were even on the right track.

Crow grits his teeth and grips his sword tighter. Skull unconsciously steps back, feeling all the smaller on the road before Hecatoncheires. He puts his finger to his ear. 

"Uh Queen, you got any ideas?" 

"Just stay calm. The authorities have just arrived to help evacuate, so I'm circling back now. Panther, Noir, and Joker are on route too, just sit tight." 

Crow cuts in.

"What's the update on Fox and Oracle?" 

"Nothing, they're still not picking up." 

A heavy stomp of the demon rocks the ground—the pressure from it all starting to eat at Skull.

"Honestly, at this point, I don't even know if they can help, but god, I wish they were here."

"Well *Kuh* you never know. The thing doesn't look all too bright. Maybe it'll just stroll in and drown as soon as hits ocean." 

"Urgh, could you shut-" 

Skull sees Crow start to fall over and rushes to stop him from hitting the pavement. 

"Heh, I thought I told you to make those last hits count?" 

Crow says, his attempt at his usual tone not convincing Skull for a second.

Skull eases Crow down gently. He looks back up at the demon coming down towards them, a ways off but still approaching. Skull gets up, standing back straight as he eyes Hecatonchires down. 

"Queen I'm sorry. Imma need you to come pick Crow and me up stat." 

"What? Why? Skull-" 

Skull turns off his codec. He closes his eyes and steels himself. Reaching out and grabbing every ounce of energy left in him and Crow's last boost for another attack. 

"Haaaaah! C'mon, you ugly freak, you think you're all that? 

Crow's eyes widen. He can see Skull's body start glinting, sparks coming off his body. Kidd starts forming behind him, coming tangible before shining just like his user. Crow tries to get back to his feet. He's not sure what's about to happen, but as weak as he feels, he knows he needs to get ready to grab Skull and run.

Skull throws his arm across himself, cannon fire echoing in the night behind him.

"Captain Kidd! God's Hand!!" 

\------ 

Futaba reaches into the fridge and pulls out an Orange Smash can. She cracks it open and takes several full gulps. The can is half empty before she stops herself and sputters out a few coughs of the stuff. She reminds herself why she came to the kitchen in the first place. 

She moves across the fridge to the sink, pouring herself a glass of water. She leaves the kitchen, both drinks in hand, and returns to the living room. Futaba places both drinks on the coffee table. She thinks about sitting by her guest, but the thought gets lambasted as quickly as it came, and she sits at the couch across from him. Futaba keeps her head down. Eyes straight.

'Oh god-oh god-oh god-What do I do why did I do this-I mean it's not too late hide in my room I can make a run for it and-'

“Thank you.” 

His words break her internal raving and help snap her from her daze, and if he weren't there right now, she would've gone ahead and slapped herself. 

'What am I doing!? He’s already here! It's too late to hit the escape command now. Come on, Futaba, come on! We can do this!' 

Futaba grabs what little courage she has and cuts the excuses. She raises her head, facing whose she’s been avoiding. 

Yusuke, on his part, was just finishing sipping from his glass and puts it back down. He looks back at Futaba and any strength she had evaporates. In a panic, she grabs her soda can and takes the same large gulps she did back in the kitchen, although she has the mind not to cough it up and embarrass herself any further. She downs the whole can and slams it down on the coffee table with a thunk.

...

'I am the worst at this.'

More dead air hangs before Futaba breaks it herself.

"Uh-um... well, y-you see Yusuke, the thing is- 

"Futaba, it's okay. Don't force it on my account. You can take all the time you need to find what you what to say." 

His patience is honey on her concern. But as sweet as taking her time sounded, she knew Sojiro would be closing up shop soon. And even if he wasn't, she had been ducking Yusuke for too long. 

“I’m… sorry.” 

It was the first thing she could think of. Sorry. Sorry for what I’m about to say. Sorry for burdening you with this. I'm sorry for how I feel. 

Because in Futaba’s mind, this was the end. There was nothing for them after this. She could hope for Yusuke to reject her gently, and they could both try to put this all behind them, but it would never really go away. It would just be too awkward. Maybe some token hangouts or texts before the past week became their forever. This was it for their friendship. She had overstepped her bounds. She could scarcely come out and admit it to herself, but she recognized how she felt—this poisonous fruit that's mistakenly blossomed.

But then, Yusuke reaches out across the table and grabs her hand.

"Don't be sorry. You don't have to apologize. Whatever it is, just tell me. I won't bear you any ill will. Whatever it is, I came here to try and understand it. You... are a precious friend of mine, Futaba."

...

'Leave it to Yusuke to go and make things worse.'

And despite what she just thought, Futaba couldn't help smiling. The anxious pessimism was still there, but it shrinks with each giggle wracking her body.

She shakes her head to get the last of it out, then looks up at him. He hadn't reacted much to her outburst. His face showed the same understanding as before as he just let her be her. Their hands stay together. She can feel the faith he has in her. Futaba closes her eyes and breathes in and out calmly. She opens them up, gazing at those dark eyes of his. Her teammate, her friend, her-

"Yusuke... I, what I mean to say is, that I-"

*THUMP* *THUMP*

The whole house starts rattling uncontrollably. The glass falls off the table and shatters on the hardwood. Futaba lets him go and jumps out of her seat.

"What the-earthquake!?" 

Yusuke follows suit. His eyes flash back and forth as the Fox part of him slips on, the cool, more calculating side. He feels something off about this and tries to dissect what it is. 

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* 

"No, wait! This is too consistent to be an earthquake. It has a... rhythm to it?" 

The shaking doesn’t stop, but Yusuke’s deduction does take some of the fear from Futaba. If this wasn’t an earthquake, then was it? 

But she doesn’t have long to worry about that. For out the corner of her vision, outside her window, something catches her eye—movement. A dark shape getting larger and larger, closer and closer. But before she could wrap her head around it, and as quickly as this all started, she found herself unable to do much of anything. 

What was it? A car charging through the air like a spear, and lodging right into her house.


	15. Chapter 15

Yusuke didn’t know what had come over him. 

It would be easy to say that what that Sojiro fellow from before said had just really resonated with him, but that wasn’t it. Maybe those words were the last push Yusuke needed. Or maybe he had gone ahead and gotten all loopy from being without his close friend. 

Because when he was there with Futaba, he didn't know what had come over him. He didn't know why he held her hand. He didn’t know why he said those things he did. The only answer that would come was that it had just felt right to do it at the moment. Right then and there, his world was falling into place in a lovely way, like the last bit slipping into a jigsaw puzzle or the dab of color a piece was missing. It wouldn't have felt right to have it any other way. 

'But... why?'

And maybe those weird feelings inside him were why he had prioritized her safety so much over his. 

Will all his might, he shoves the large chunks of wood and drywall off him. They fall with a heavy thud, dust swirling up from the impact forcing Yusuke to cough. Some dust had latched onto his suit or was getting covered up by the patches still starting to materialize. He gets up and moves to the pile of rubble that last was Futaba. Parts of Goemon peaking through were all he could see through the gaps in the wreckage. He hefts the broken pieces of house off his persona—the strain aching his body that just moments ago was on the bad end of a car crash and house collapse. 

'As if there was a good end of those things, as Futaba would say.'

He finishes clearing the debris away and can still only see his persona. Goemon was crouched over, trying to protect her as best it could.

Fox calls off his persona so he can get a look at her. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't moving, and he could feel his whole body seize up. Fox puts one ear over her chest. He can feel her lungs' weak inhale and exhale, her heartbeat as his own drums in his ear in rhythm alongside it. He lifts his head away and wraps his arms around her, lifting her from the floor. 

His eyes dart around her body for any kind of injury to no avail. Goemon had managed to shield her from the car and house debris, but she must've hit her head during the push to the floor. A blessing since, unlike him, she hadn’t been able to call her persona and its protection in time. 

Fox breathes a sigh of relief before he gets brought back to earth and the gravity of his situation. Now there's nothing urgent to take away his attention, and the rumbling comes back to the forefront. The assault on his senses that he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed. He turns around to see the direction the car had come from and bears witness. 

The thing stood over twice as tall as the remains of the house's second-floor still standing, the many-armed behemoth Hecatonchires. And while something that big was intimidating, Fox noted it didn't look to be in any better shape than the ruined house. Half of its body wilted and slumped down, profusing bleeding some kind of black, inky substance. It dragged along several of its arms with it. They squirmed around and pulsed, but were for all purposes, worthless. 

Fox moves from the remains of the living room to the back of the house, as close he could get where the walls could still act as cover without possibly falling over. To make doubly sure, he casts Mabufu, the ice further supporting the wall. With one last look at her, he takes off from behind the house and towards the demon.

“Goemon, Mabufula!” 

The persona follows behind him and claps his hands, sending a fleet of ice towards it. The attack that hits the normal side doesn't look all too effective, but not so on the other half—the cold digs in deep and hard on its welts. Hecatonchires cries out in pain, even dropping other cars it had started picking up. 

Fox is on the road by then, trying to get in close and figure out some strategy to take out the demon before he gets cut off. A black van with yellow and red lined decals drifts to a hard stop in front of him side. On the side closest to him, a woman with unmistakably fluffy hair takes out a grenade launcher. She pulls herself through the window and over the van's roof, takes aim and fires. The shot blows clear across Hecatonchires' weaker half. The pain streaks across its grotesque face, but the thing still stands. She gets out of the car, putting her other hand over her eyes to get a better look. 

"Oh my. This is a tough one, isn't it?"

The driver comes around from the other side, a machine gun in tow. 

"Y'know how it is Noir. Some guys just can't take a hint."

"Panther, Noir!"

Panther turns to him, smirking.

"Don't sound so shocked when we were the ones waiting for you to show up." 

Noir aims again and fires. This time, however, it turns its good side towards the shot, it's arms curling up around itself, tanking the explosion. Noir hmms as she crouches down to load in more ammo. 

On pure instinct, Fox goes for his earpiece to radio Oracle. He grits his teeth and shakes his head before composing himself. He turns to his other teammate. 

"Panther, what's the situation?" 

"At lot worse than I wish it was. Crow and Skull tried intercepting it first and got themselves taken out. Queen had them power out of their suits and is dragging them to a shelter now. Joker's hauling it here best he can, and I don't know what's holding Oracle." 

Noir gets up. She puts one hand over her face and calls Milady. The persona waves its fan across its face in turn, as three guns appear from under its 'gown' and start firing. 

"You should've heard Queen over the call. She gave them a real earful." 

She tilts her head a bit, closes her eyes, and smiles as Milady's muzzle flashes shine over her face. 

Fox goes to root around in the back of the van. He finds a spare blade and gun for him and attaches them to his person before stepping out. Panther speaks up first.

“Sooo, what’s our plan? Our leader, our deputy leader, and our intel are all out. Personally? I say we hit it with all we got till we can come up with something else.” 

Fox nods in agreement, but his mask can barely cover the grimace he was making.

"Panther, there's a civilian behind that broken house back there. She might need medical attention. Please check on her. Noir and I will hold off the demon."

"Got it."

Panther runs off to where Fox had pointed. He meanwhile turns back to Hecatonchires. He slides his katana from its sheath and bends forward into a run. 

"Noir, cover me!"

Another shot hits Hecatonchires as if in answer. The demon pulls its arms back, outstretching them as it roars. And then it did the impossible, it ran. The arms moved in the wind like tidal waves as it moved its too large body in a sprint. It was fed up with these humans getting in the way.

Yusuke stares back in turn. He doesn't stop moving. Trying to focus on the situation at hand. 

But something hangs on him. A thought he can't help. Words that bubbled up until they ran maniacally in his mind in repeat. A credo in his heart. 

‘I cannot fail here. I won’t.' 

This demon would not get past him, not one more hair off Futaba's head-or anyone else would get hurt tonight.


	16. Chapter 16

'Hello...?'

Futaba didn't know where she was. She was just waking up, but she didn't remember ever going to bed. The last thing she could remember was... Yusuke? She opens her eyes, but everything is a blurry mess of colors. She blinked and could see that someone dressed in red was beside her. Panther? But that couldn't be right. They seemed to be looking at something before turning and talking to her, but Futaba's ears can't catch the words. She blinks again, and they're gone. Futaba tries to pick herself up.

The first thing she noticed was the concrete. The first tangible thing to let her know something was very wrong. Then, there was the sound of gunfire. That brought a shock to her system. She tries to stand up on shaky, unsteady legs. Futaba feels for something to support her, only to touch... ice?

She stares at the wall, confused, before realizing that this was the back of her house, layered over in ice.

'But why the ice? Why am I back here-Woah!'

An explosion cuts her train of thought. Futaba even starts to lose her footing before catching herself in time. She walks along the strange ice wall, trying to move in the direction of the noise and see what it was. She turns the corner and sees it.

Everything comes together.

Her house had a car coming out of it. The second floor collapsed in, the whole house folding in on itself. She could see fire and smoke over in the horizon and from the buildings nearby, ones she walked by all the time on her way to Leblanc or the train. Now broken like in a giant monster flick. And dead center was the monster.

For the first time since joining P.T., Futaba felt it. The overpowering sense and terror of death. The fear filling and weighing her body down like cement. In awe and horror at a demon so giant, she swore it could start grabbing the moon at any moment.  
.  
She just stayed there, frozen, when something catches her eye.

'Y-Yusuke?'

Fox was coming down on a sheer ice slide, Goemon casting Mabufu as quick as his wielder could cross it. As he gets in close, Fox drives his sword into the side of the demon. Letting all that momentum and force carry him as he slices across the monster. It screams and shakes, breaking the ice Fox just rode on, but Fox was already gone. He lands safely back to the ground and, with barely a second to catch his breath, runs in again for another charge. 

It was then that Futaba caught sight of Noir and Panther. The two weaving all around to pelt the thing with spells and explosives. P.T. was here, doing what they always did.

Futaba shakes her head.

'What am I doing!? C'mon, everyone else is out there doing their best, so why can't you? You. Can. Do. This."

She clenches and unclenches her hands repeatedly, psyching herself up. Beside her, the air starts to shimmer and spark before solidifying as Necronomicon.

"Scan!"

Over her face, red goggles materialize. The lenses display circular runes rotating over the demon as text starts feeding through.

'Hecatonchires.'

She waves her right hand, the mythological history scrubs away to give her more prescient details. Her other hand flicks and strum on a holographic screen as she's also trying to patch Necronomicon into the codecs, her headset back in the house. This wasn't ideal as pushing her persona for communication and analysis put a harsher strain on her. 

'But nothing else is going right today, so why start crying about it now?'

Her suit only just finished enveloping her before she's patched in.

"Hello, hello! Can you read me? This is Oracle come in P.T.!"

Noir's the first to answer.

"Oracle! Are you all right? We were worried about you."

"Don't worry about me, what about you guys!?"

"Oracle!"

She can hear a sigh of relief follow Fox's words. Oracle shoves the all too familiar feeling spreading throughout her when Panther comes in as well.

"Oracle, thank god you're here! I'm so glad to hear from you. What took you so long?"

"We can swap stories after. What matters is that I'm here now to back you all up. C'mon! Let's take out this titan-reject!" 

"Roger!"

Their voices ring out in return before the line goes silent. The others getting ready for the tide to turn in their favor, as they knew Oracle wasn't the only one just arriving.

'Okay, critical blunt trauma to one side. Okay, okay weaknesses, weaknesses-'

"Oracle!"

There's a flutter of leather as someone comes down from up high, landing behind her, Joker. He spins her around and grabs her by the shoulders.

"Are you okay, are you hurt!?"

Oracle was surprised to see Joker so concerned, especially when she didn't look any worse for wear, but she doesn't dwell on it before responding.

"I'm fine-I'm fine, focus on them!"

Joker lets her go as he sees Panther, Noir, and Fox. They were all easing up and drawing back. All of them waiting for Joker to step in. He puts his hand over his face.

"What do you got for me?"

She grits her teeth.

"Just Bless, but I don't know where Crow-"

"Got it. Come, Power!"

An angel clad in crimson armor comes to Joker's side. It smacks its spear twice on its shield before flying into the fray. 

"Oracle, you're too close to this. Stay further back and keep recon."

She doesn't have a chance to reply before Joker runs after it.  
Joker keeps the hand on his face as he tried to direct his persona. Power flies up all around Hecatonchires' upper body, darting through the sea of arms before coming to the base of one in the center of its good side. Power shoves its spear deep into it, before flying out of there.

"Mahama!"

The spear burns in yellow light and starts to sear away the mass of limbs. The rest of P.T. follow suit, attacking but primarily trying to buy time for Joker and his Bless skills. The battle proceeds like that for a while before Hecatonchires decides that it's its turn.

The skill was working, but Hecatonchires just had far too many limbs. The demon manages to snatch Power out of the air, squeezing the angel in its grip before crushing it in a sharp instant.  
The angel shatters into blue shards as Joker falls to his knees. Considering he had gotten hit secondhand by something that could bust a hole in a skyscraper, Joker was lucky he wasn't finished right there. He was, however, unable to move so soon after a persona break. This was the first clean hit Hecatonchires got on anyone. The demon smells blood in the water, and its fist starts coming down.

'No!' 

"Joker, move!"

Oracle could do nothing but watch. Time plays painfully slow for her when Fox rushes in and tackles Joker out of the demon's away. The two tumbling away from the impact. Fox gets to his feet first and helps Joker up as he calls Power again.

Oracle knows they're safe, she can see them clearly, but the air won't come to her lungs. She was here, not stuck in her room watching from behind a screen. She was close enough to do something, close enough to feel the danger. But like always, there was still nothing she could do—the frustration, fear, and powerlessness that could often come over her, were now drowning her all at once.

'No, No, No, No-No-No-NO!'

She was intel, she played her role the best anyone could and tried not to let it bother her. And most days, it didn't, but not today, she couldn't bring herself to stay out of it.

"N-Necronomicon!"

Her persona zips over above Hecatonchires, basking it in its bright turquoise lights. Futaba claps her hands together, interlacing her fingers and tightening her grip, consciously calling forward what she had only done once before and on accident. 

From out the bottom of Necronomicon, black feelers start coming out. Hecatonchires' arms outnumbered them, but they start wrapping themselves around the demon's arms and across its body, ensnaring it as best it could.

"Oracle what are you-"

Joker cuts Fox off.

"Attack now, yell at her later!"

"Carmen, Agilao!"

A fireball hit dead on one of the only free spaces left on the demon not caught in Oracle's entanglement, its face. It tries to slap its face in desperation with its few free hands left to put out the fire. 

Fox seizes the opportunity. He circles around it and slashes deep across the back of its knee, as Noir drives her ax into the other. The demon topples and falls forward hard onto the pavement. It thrashes around, trying to get at its attackers, but there were just too many, no chance to retaliate or defend as the hits pile on.

With Hecatonchires on the ropes, Joker calls Power in for the kill.

"Hamaon!" 

The ground beneath the demon shines with blinding light. The light becoming bigger and bigger before it encompasses the demon's whole frame. White runes take form around the edge of the light as white papers fly out from it. They swirl in the air before falling swiftly and latching all around the demon. The papers glow white as they proceed to exorcise it.

And finally, after being burned, bruised, shot, cut, and bathed in holy light, Hecatonchires was dying. It tries desperately to cling to life as it flails in place in vain as pieces of it start to crumble into dust and smoke, scattering in the wind and disappearing from the human's world.

"We-We did it. It's done."

Oracle sags forward and calls away her persona. More tired than she was ever prepared with her NEET lifestyle. After catching her breath, she can hear the others whoop and cheer, all as exhausted as her but overjoyed. Feeling one last bit of energy left in her, she's unable to help herself and runs up to them.

As she gets closer, P.T. become more clear. Panther and Joker exchanged a high-five and were now talking to each other. Noir sighed in relief and leans on the van's side, cooling herself with large waves of her hat. But Futaba's eyes were drawn to someone else. 

When she reaches him, she goes with her first instinct, wrapping her arms around Fox, him hugging her in turn.

And why what happened after that happened? Futaba couldn't really say. Maybe she just had too much adrenaline left in her, maybe it was the high of them all making it out of there alive. Or maybe in some small part in the back of her mind, she knew things could have easily gone much worse. Hell, that time could very well be next time. That she may never get this chance ever again.

When Oracle comes to, she was centimeters away from Fox's face. His face in complete shock, his cheeks even lightly flushed. She feels a tingle come over her lips and reaches over and touches them with her fingers. The realization dawns on her, and her face comes red too.

She turns her head to see the others, all stunned by what they just saw.

Yeah, nothing was going right today.


	17. Chapter 17

P.T. did not have meetings together. Anything that needed to be said could wait until they were on patrol. Besides, their conversations were typically straight to the point directions and objectives broken up by some occasional banter. There was no need to get together to discuss something.

Which was why it was so surprising when Joker had called for one. 

It was a few days after the fight with Hecatonchires, as they all needed some time to rest. Skull, in particular, shouldn't have even gotten out of bed today, but this wasn't going to be a fight. They were all just coming together to talk. 

And that's why Futaba was so terrified. 

Demons were an intimidating prospect, but that's why they formed in the first place. Secure in the knowledge that they had someone to back them up. But regardless of how many times P.T. won, they were still on the brink in the end. One slip up could mean anything from the deaths of hundreds to the fall of Tokyo itself. 

There was no room of error, no room for liabilities. 

The elevator stops on the fifth floor, and she steps out. Oracle walks down the mess of hallways, all as shabby as the building looked out front. The kind of place no one would enter out of fear of getting stabbed, mugged, etc. Though Oracle was hoping she would leave with her life at least. 

Her step falters before she catches herself and keeps walking. The thought ringing hollow in her mind. 

'They wouldn't hurt me, would they? Would they really do that?'

Oracle had been with P.T. for almost a year now. Sure they never hung out together, but they weren't strangers. The government and media might paint them as rogues or heroes depending on their fancy that week, but they weren't like that. They were just... people, people who got the chance to do the right thing and took it. 

She knows so much about them despite the rules. Not so much the dangerous stuff, just little things. Things that seemed so unimportant but might as well be pearls washed up on a shoreline for her. 

The way Skull was the first to cheer someone up when they were having an off night. The work Queen put into balancing P.T. and her studies. How Noir fought so ferociously while still keeping that sincere and kind nature with her. The way Crow tried to hide how much the team means to him behind every snide comment that his actions betray. How deeply Panther cared for everyone’s well-being, whether civilian or P.T. How Joker puts everything he can into looking out for them. And how-how dedicated Fox was to them all. 

She knows the way they smile at a job well done. She has to pick it out from miles away, but she knows it. She knows it with every fiber of her being, they were good people. 

And it was with that faith she kept in her chest that let her keep walking.

After a while, she had reached her destination. Past all the grime and neglect lay one pristine door, shining spick and span like it knew nothing of where it was. Oracle grasps the golden doorknob and, with a deep breath, wrests it open. 

The room she came to was... odd. The walls and floor were all draped in rich blues. It was as uncharacteristically clean as the door was for a place in an abandoned building, but was practically as vacant. The only things there were Joker behind a mahogany desk with the rest of P.T. seated at chairs in front of him, like some surreal classroom. 

Joker doesn't look up as he seems to be fiddling with his dagger, but not everyone else. They all look at her either directly or discreetly.   
Oracle steels herself and takes the last available seat at the end. If nothing else, at least Fox was on the other side from her. She didn't want to even think about thinking of them, whatever they were, now. 

Of all of them, the most anxious one had to be her, but trailing behind by a hair’s width was Fox.

The words that Sojiro said and his own feelings about Futaba had reached a head. He thought he had it figured out. That he would return the favor and help her in turn. He would show her how much he treasured their friendship. 

And then things got strange. 

From when he arrived at Futaba's front door to Hecatonchires’ defeat, his care and worry for her hung on Fox like nothing else had. 

And then there was… the kiss. 

Fox was like a fish on land when it came to personal relations. His own quirks naturally pushed people away before anyone could try and dig deeper. The truth of how he spent much of his life burdened by what he saw as his failure. He tried to succeed and uphold Madarame’s legacy, then he tried to make up for his past weakness with every night he went out there. Pressed down by all of that until he met Oracle, or rather Futaba. 

Through chance or fate, she caught a glimpse of how he was and helped give him the strength to stand. To truly carry that weight on his shoulders. Telling him the words he so desperately needed to hear. She made him feel at ease. 

It was… 

Nice. 

He shakes his head of those thoughts, berating himself for his flight of fancy. Fox focuses back on P.T., aware this could very well be the last time he may be able to have them as an ally. 

Then as if in sync, both their minds drift to the thought of them possibly striking it out on their own together. 

'Tch yeah right. Like he's gonna want to partner with the same person who got him kicked out! Stupid-Stupid-' 

'Us working together? Would Joker allow us to split from P.T. so amicably? Would she want to team up with me?’ 

The room hangs in silence before Skull speaks up and tries to break the tense mood. 

"Soooo Joker, you gonna tell us why you brought us all down here?" 

Crow shakes his head. 

"Leave it to Skull to be out of the loop." 

"Oh, what do you know! I know Queen had you laid up somewhere too.” 

Crow quirks an eyebrow.

"Hardly. Unlike some people, I can be trusted not to run around with five broken ribs." 

“Oh, c’mon! There was like one bruised one tops." 

Queen puts one hand gently on Skull's shoulder and eyes Crow. Skull shuts up real quick while Crow rolls his eyes and looks back at Joker. 

"Well, leader, will you do the honors of putting us all up to speed? For formality's sake." 

Joker doesn’t say anything for a moment before he finally puts his dagger down. He raises his head to them all. His face betraying an odd expression even from behind his mask. 

"When I… first started P.T., I wanted to base us around a set of principles. I didn't want there to be any doubt on what we were trying to do and how we would do it. Most of them were pretty obvious. Putting civilians at a top priority, doing all you can to support your teammates, that kind of thing. But the rule we’re here for today is: not getting too close to one other. Fox and Oracle seemed to have broken that rule. So I called you all here to decide what to do about all that.” 

Fox and Oracle feel the chill come over them. The room's return to stillness doing them no favors. 

Skull tries to get up and speak on their behalf when Queen drags him back to his seat. With the wind cut from his sails, Queen has time to intercede. 

"Joker… I understand this a breach of conduct, but I believe there should be room for some leniency."

"It just doesn’t seem right. Punishing them for being close? Who are we to decide that?" Said Noir. 

The floodgates open, and soon everyone is defending Oracle and Fox. They argue about simply letting it go, that they may be putting themselves at risk but they weren't dragging P.T. with them or that the rule was just plain ridiculous. 

Fox and Oracle didn't know what to think. They knew P.T. weren't heartless, and they had hoped for something like this, but they couldn't have imagined it being on this scale. 

They didn't know just how much they meant to the others.

Joker puts his hand up, and the talking dies down. 

"My rule didn't make a lot of sense on the face of it, but I had my reasons.” 

He puts his hands together, gripping them in a tight, tense motion.

"I thought it was the best way to help everybody in this world we're in now. Especially with the way my old team went." 

That brought a shock to everyone, Joker sharing a detail about his old crew. Hell, they didn't even know the team's name, and here he was letting them see a crack in his history.

"I wanted... to make up for what happened. I thought that maybe things could be different this time around. ...But honestly, maybe I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt like I did."  
  
If him opening up shocked them, they couldn't have guessed what would happen next.

Joker took off his mask. 

He lays it on the table right beside his dagger. There was pain etched across his features. His eyes were watery like he were about to cry, but despite that, he was smiling. 

"But maybe I came up with that rule for my own protection rather than thinking of you all."  
  
Everyone is stunned into silence, and now its Futaba's turn to break it.

"A-Akira?" 

"Hey, Futaba." 

Skulls whips head around to Oracle. Everything he thought he knew getting broken down in front of him.

"You-You know Joker!?” 

"Yeah, he's the freeloader who refuses to pay rent!" 

"I love you too, sis." 

Noir giggles at that, Skull soon after, and before long, they were all laughing. Panther tries to compose herself before asking what everyone else was thinking.

"So, what made you change your mind?" 

"Well, I thought it may have been just us three. But now, I see there's no point enforcing a rule we've all broken."

It was impossible to spend so much time with other people without forming some kind of attachment. People have a way of connecting to each other regardless of what may try and stop them. It's entirely possible that this meeting was inevitable the moment Joker had told them not to. 

Things wouldn’t change overnight. They weren’t expected to bear every piece of each other's personal lives right now or ever. It would be a process of feeling each other out, knowing the risks, and deciding whether or not to on their own terms.

Now there was just one question burning a hole through Oracle and Fox's mind. 

'What do I say to him?' 

'What do I say to her?' 

What now? 


	18. Chapter 18

The attic of Cafe Leblanc seemed as good a place as any for them to meet up. Not that Futaba could very well ask him over to her house.

There was government assistance for those who suffered from demon attacks, but it was slow going. Sojiro was down a long list, and that's before getting into all the paperwork, which meant crashing at Leblanc for now. For an attic above a coffee shop, they could have done worse. The whole Sakura family had gone to work cleaning and rearranging so they could be living in a room that looked halfway presentable, even with all the futons shoved at the walls. And after Futaba had burned through that excuse, she bit the bullet and asked Yusuke to meet her there.

They were sitting on the couch, each on the other end. The seat between them making the distance feel grander than it was.

It was funny in a twisted sort of way. They were almost right back where they were last week. Except now there was a different energy in the air. He knows what she meant now, what she felt. 

Futaba, on the other hand, didn't know about him.

"Y-You don't have to feel obligated to anything."

It was the only thing she could think to say. The first thing that came to mind on how to apologize. She hated herself for what happened, how she had gotten lost in the moment, and lost a close friend because of it. How things would never be the same between them. 

Or at least that's what she thought.

Yusuke looks surprised, and Futaba's anxious words keep spilling out.

"I'm sorry, I really am sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Ya'know! The k-k-"

"The kiss?"

"...Yeah."

She stares down at the floor, trying her best to keep her composure. Futaba wanted to make sure that there were no hard feelings. She wanted him to think they could still be on P.T. together without any awkwardness between them. She had to do this, she would do this, even if it felt like parts of her heart were cracking and splintering off.

That's when Yusuke lets her know.

"I don't see why you have to apologize."

She bolts from her daze as Yusuke continues.

"There is nothing wrong with expressing yourself or how you feel."

Futaba rubs one shoulder.

"I guess that's true."

Yusuke looks up at the ceiling like he's not there anymore.

"It's a bit like making a work of art, putting yourself out there and letting someone else take a look and evaluate it for themselves. Letting them take a glimpse in what is an expression from the heart."

He returns his gaze to her, taking in every part of her. The glasses that perfectly frame her seraphic face, the long strands of sunset hair that he wishes he could run his hands across. That warm soul of hers that he's been enveloped by.

"When you were keeping your distance from me, it was like I was marooned. Like I had lost a part of me that I needed back. It was.. unbearable to not be with you."

Futaba's eyes couldn't help but water.

"I didn't think... you felt that way about someone like me."

Yusuke moves closer, leaning his body towards her.

"You are uniquely you, irreplaceable to me."

She leans closer, snickering slightly before speaking up.

"I like you too, you dolt."

The kiss was a bit awkward, their height difference making them have to strain to get to each other. But when they came together, it felt worth it like nothing else did.

They were two little morons. Differing in many ways, yet sharing the same weakness. A deficiency in their personality, a difficulty with connecting with people, and yet they were trying.

Now they gained another weakness. A weakness for each other, a longing not easily quashed that was a possible danger in their line of work. Though that's not exactly how they felt about it.

At that moment, they felt they could take on the world. That together, they may as well be invincible. They were a piece of each other's strength.

Though their thoughts weren't exactly that coherent right then. As they were wrapped in each other's embrace, all that was on their minds were each other.

\------

In an alleyway deep in the heart of the city, there was a harsh stillness, like the world itself was frozen, before a sharp crack shatters through the hush. As they air hummed and smoked, out came a maroon portal. The same kind that demons would enter from, but there's something different about this one, and the creature who stepped out.

Two furry ears twitch in the wind as the being's nose wrinkles as it tries to catch a scent. Its tail flicking in the wind to some unheard rhythm.

The beast has a lock on what it's looking for and darts off into the night. Its destination clear.


End file.
